Sesshin Talks

Zen Meditation Retreat

A sesshin (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) retreat in a Japanese Zen monastery, or in a Zen monastery or Zen center that belongs to one of the Japanese Zen traditions outside of Japan.

While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, during a sesshin they devote themselves almost exclusively to zazen practice. The numerous 30- to 50-minute-long meditation periods are interleaved with short rest breaks, meals, and sometimes short periods of work (Japanese: 作務 samu) all performed with the same mindfulness; nightly sleep is kept to a minimum, at six hours or fewer. During the sesshin period, the meditation practice is occasionally interrupted by the master giving public talks (teisho) and individual direction in private meetings (which may be called dokusan, daisan, or sanzen) with a Zen Master.

In modern Buddhist practice in Japan and the West, sesshins are often attended by lay students and are typically one, three, five, or seven days in length. Seven-day sesshins are held several times a year at many Zen centers, especially in commemoration of the Buddha's awakening to full enlightenment (anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi). At this Rohatsu sesshin, practitioners seek to relax and quiet the mind to the point of cessation of mental chatter and emotional impulse, samadhi, kensho, or satori.

From sesshin on Wikipedia

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Title Speaker

January 23rd, 2018, Serial No. 04410

Ceremony, Stillness, Sesshin
Jan 23 2018

December 11th, 2011, Serial No. 03916

Suzuki Roshi, Sesshin, difficulty
Dec 11 2011

The Bodhisattva's Creativity and Freedom 

Fox, Bodhisattva Vow, Sesshin, Suzuki Roshi, Attachment
Dec 08 2011
The Yoga Room

November 16th, 2010, Serial No. 03801

Sesshin, Intimacy, Practice Period
Nov 16 2010

December 7th, 2007, Serial No. 03506

Priest, Sesshin, Stillness
Dec 07 2007